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June 27, 2012

Week 25- and Dog Scout camp

Camp was really great! Such a wonderful and friendly group of people and dogs! I think it was the most relaxed group of campers and dogs in a LONG time!

I managed to teach Scent Detection to many of the campers and do the Admin job and still get Dazzle out for fun and badge earning :-) He picked up wilderness search and rescue (SAR) really fast! And earned that badge by the end of camp (his 45th badge!) And after camp, DSA held an IMPROV trial and he not only got second place in Standard level, but earned the 3rd Q needed for his title!

Here are some of the better photos I took during the week:

Note that I caught the ball mid-splash! I used this as this week's Flickr group photo

Portrait in the pines

Agility blur

Portrait in the ferns

Another uniform pose

Zooming out of the tunnel (to get the ball I just threw)

An accidental shot that caught me mid throw!

Dazzle did great with the Urban SAR Agility equipment too! This is a brand new activity that will be 4 new badges next year. They are intended to show that the dog has the confidence and skills needed to safely navigate a rubble pile and work at a distance and find a "trapped"/hidden subject. Only a few pieces of the equipment were ready for this year, but hopefully more will be built by the July camp.

Navigating the pipe

Lure coursing was offered again and this time I got Dazzle to do a down stay at the start of each run so I could also operate the camera! Can you see his anticipation? :-)

The following are photos taken by the camp photographers. There are not many of Dazzle because I usually had him out when I had free time and we were not participating in most of the scheduled activities. I know there were more taken (dock diving and SAR agility) but they were not on the disk. They took over 4000 photos, but could only fit about 1800 on the thumb drive so many had to be cut. :-( Next year we will have 4 or 8 GB thumb drives so they don't have to do so much cutting.

Ready for dock diving

Maligator

Getting the weeds out of the pond is on the list of things that need to be done before the July camp!

We DID participate in the Wilderness Search and Rescue class and Dazzle did great! Here he is realizing the instructor is hiding in the shed.

I think he was trying to get to the vent above the door!

Yup! That's where she was hiding! At first the hidden person had his toy (she's tugging with him in this photo), but we quickly moved to both toys being with me and rewarding a "recall" and a re-find.

Playing with his very first girlfriend (they travelled to the TX mini camp as puppies in 2009). Though he also played with several other friends too.

There were bad thunderstorms the first day of camp, and even with meds he was pretty nervous due to the volume. One strike was so close we were looking out the windows to see if any trees were on fire! He wasn't alone, several of the dogs were reacting and I'm sure that didn't help his confidence. Here he is "helping" me present the Urban SAR Agility class orientation.

Demo dog- showing one way to help dogs learn to sit-up

Demo of the wobble board (my foot on it to show the beginning steps)

Overall, it was a GREAT camp! Lots of fun and no major drama. The new maintenance guys have camp looking really good, though I did leave them with almost 3 pages of more stuff to do! :-)

Stats:

Belgian Malinois

"MAL-in-wah"M-MemorableA-AthleticL-LoyalI-IntelligentN-NonstopO-ObedientI-InexhaustibleS-SeriousMALINOIS: A thinking dog with a sense of humor. Ready to work or play all day long and at a moment's notice. MUST have something physical to do on a daily basis (job, play, etc.). Will learn with lightning speed for a person who will teach with kindness, clarity and fairness. His athleticism allows him to excel in any dog sport and he's game for any activity that tests his mental or physical abilities.

Dazzle's Horoscope

LeoJuly 23 to August 22Assertive and expressive, the Leo dog deserves respect. Your dogs demanding nature puts him constantly in the center of the family's attention. Assumingly he waits for fresh and tasty food, regular grooming, and patting. He enjoys being the king of all.He is extremely affectionate, faithful, confident, and proud. Your Leo dog is fiercely loyal, and cannot endure if you ignore him. He needs attention, praise, and adoration.But, let him earn it; do not provide it for free. Give lot of attention during a training session; praise him for fulfilling a task. Leo dogs are excellent working dogs. They need a job and appropriate exercise.